Karl A. Muller

Color portrait of Karl A. Muller

Professor of Accounting

Department Accounting
Office Address 384 Business Building
Phone Number 814-865-0202
Email Address kam23@psu.edu

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Professor Muller teaches intermediate financial accounting. His research explores the properties and implications of differences in accounting principles and disclosures across countries.Professor Muller is a member of the American Accounting Association (Financial Reporting and International Accounting Sections). He serves as an ad hoc reviewer for Accounting and Business Research, The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, International Journal of Accounting, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Review of Accounting Studies, and American Accounting Association Annual Meetings (Financial Reporting and International Accounting Sections).

Expertise

Contracting costs. Asset pricing. International accounting rules.

Education

Ph D, Accounting, The University of Illinois, 1997

BBA, Accounting, The University of Texas at Austin, 1990

Courses Taught

ACCTG 597 – Special Topics (4)

ACCTG 600 – Thesis Research (Variable)

ACCTG 472 – Int Fin Acctg II (3)
Off-balance-sheet financing; special issues in cost capitalization, liabilities, and equities; matching; funds flow statements; statement analysis; inflation accounting.

ACCTG 596 – Individual Studies (Variable)

ACCTG 590 – Colloquium (1)
Continuing seminars which consist of a series of individual lectures by faculty, students, or outside speakers.

ACCTG 597A – Empirical Research (4)
Provide a critical synthesis of empirical accounting research. The course willcover "classic" papers in the major research areas, methodological issues and emerging areas within empirical accounting research.

ACCTG 597C – Accounting Empirical Research (2)
Formal courses given on a topical or special interest subject which may be offered infrequently; several different topics may be taught in one year or term.

ACCTG 601 – Ph.D. Dissertation Full-Time

ACCTG 496 – Independent Studies (variable)
Creative projects, including research and design, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

B A 574 – Business Research (variable)
A project paper, comparable in quality and scope of work to a graduate thesis, on problems of a company.

ACCTG 597K – Advanced Empirical Research Seminar (4)
Formal courses given on a topical or special interest subject which may be offered infrequently; several different topics may be taught in one year or term.

ACCTG 597B – State and Local Taxation (4)
Formal courses given on a topical or special interest subject which may be offered infrequently; several different topics may be taught in one year or term.

Selected Publications

Castellani V., Muller K., Park K., "Investor Reaction to SPACs’ Voluntary Disclosures." The Accounting Review, vol. 99, no. 1, 2024, pp. 105-137
Dietrich J. R., Muller K., Riedl E. J., "On the Validity of Asymmetric Timeliness Measures of Accounting Conservatism." Review of Accounting Studies, vol. 28, no. 4, 2023, pp. 2150-2195
Bonsall S. B., Koharki K., Kraft P., Muller K. A., Sikochi A., "Do Rating Agencies Behave Defensively for Higher Risk Issuers?." Management Science, vol. 69, no. 8, 2023, pp. 4864-4887
Bonsall S. B., Green J., Muller K. A., "Market Uncertainty and the Importance of Media Coverage at Earnings Announcements.." Journal of Accounting and Economics, vol. 69, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1-23
Bonsall S., Comprix J., Muller K. A., "State Pension Accounting Estimates and Public Union Membership.." Contemporary Accounting Research, vol. 36, no. 3, 2019, pp. 1299-1336
Bonsall S., Green J., Muller K. A., "Are Credit Ratings More Rigorous for Widely Covered Firms?." The Accounting Review, vol. 93, no. 6, 2018, pp. 61-94
Henderson M. T., Jagolinzer A. D., Muller K. A., "Offensive Disclosure: How Voluntary Disclosure Can Increase Returns from Insider Trading." The Georgetown Law Journal, vol. 103, no. 5, 2015, pp. 1275-1306
– Findings cited in the 2021 proposal by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to make extensive rule changes to Rule 10b5-1 insider trading plans.
– Cited by ABC News, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, as well as in Federal court cases involving Rule 10b5-1 insider trading (e.g., Smilovits, et al. v. First Solar, Inc., et al., No. 2:12-cv-00555-DGC, 2020).
– Cited in Research Handbook on Insider Trading (2013, edited by Stephen Bainbridge) and Research Handbook on Executive Pay (2012, edited by Randall S. Thomas and Jennifer G. Hill).
– The GLJ is ranked #6 in the 2015 W&L Law Journal Rankings and an "A" journal by the Smeal Risk Management Department.
Muller K. A., Riedl E., Selhorn T., "Mandatory Fair Value Accounting and Information Asymmetry: Evidence from the European Real Estate Industry." Management Science, vol. 57, no. 6, 2011, pp. 1138-1153
Comprix J., Muller K. A., "Pension Plan Accounting Estimates and the Freezing of Defined Benefit Pension Plans." Journal of Accounting and Economics, vol. 51, 2011, pp. 115-133
Dietrich J. R., Muller K. A., Riedl E. J., "Asymmetric Timeliness Tests of Accounting Conservatism." Review of Accounting Studies, vol. 12, no. 1, 2007, pp. 95-124
Comprix J., Muller K. A., "Asymmetric Treatment of Reported Pension Expense and Income Amounts in CEO Cash Compensation Calculations." Journal of Accounting and Economics, vol. 42, no. 3, 2006, pp. 385-416
Muller K. A., Riedl E. J., "External Monitoring of Property Appraisal Estimates and Information Asymmetry." Journal of Accounting Research, vol. 40, no. 3, 2002, pp. 865-881
Dietrich J. R., Harris M. S., Muller K. A., "The Reliability of Investment Property Fair Value Estimates." Journal of Accounting and Economics, vol. 30, no. 2, 2000, pp. 125-158
Muller K. A., "An Examination of the Voluntary Recognition of Acquired Brand Names in the United Kingdom." Journal of Accounting and Economics, vol. 26, 1999, pp. 179-191
– Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award, The International Accounting Section, American Accounting Association, 1998.
Harris M. S., Muller K. A., "The Market Valuation of IAS versus US GAAP Accounting Measures using Form 20-F Reconciliations." Journal of Accounting and Economics, vol. 26, 1999, pp. 285-312
- A synopsis of this paper was included in the Financial Accounting Series Research Supplement published by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (June 29, 1999). It was one of 4 articles selected from a review of over 10 academic accounting journals that address key issues in financial accounting.
-Reprinted in The New Library of International Accounting: Development Studies in International Accounting – Americas and the Far East, edited by Christopher K. Nobes and Gary K. Meek, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, 2002.

Editorships

The Accounting Review, Editorial Board, July 2023 - Present
Accounting Horizons, Editorial Board, May 2021 - Present

Honors and Awards